I’ve always loved bike riding. The sound of the gravel under the tires takes me back to my pink huffy bike, the breeze in my face, and the feeling of being close to nature bring me to a peaceful place. I get lost in my thoughts, but then my thoughts start to write themselves out in my head, and I follow them. I commend the baby bunnies who don’t run when I approach. Their curiosity wins, and their bravery makes me smile. “Don’t lose your courage,” I tell them. (In my head, of course).
I spy birds who think I can’t see them through the tress, and deer in the meadows of beautiful purple wildflowers that are just as tall as they are, and huge fish happily jumping out of the water as I pass by.
I smile at the people I pass. Some of them smile back, some don’t. A few of them even look angry when I smiled at them. It doesn’t bother me though, nothing could steal my bike ride peace. I hope they find it someday.
The air seems easier to breathe on the path where I enter the trees. There are so many of them, and their oxygen fills my lungs. I can take a deep breath, and I do!!! (without coughing!)
There are a few hills that I coast down, eyes closed, no hands! I love this part. I feel myself becoming young again, coasting down the streets in the subdivision, feeling “cool,” before racing my sister around the corners.
I have a few favorite trees on the bike path. They seem to hold many stories. Stories that are told as people walk by. Stories that are witnessed as people sit under their beauty. Stories that float in from the echoes. They wrap their branches around them, and never let go.
I pass people who are fishing. Casting out, waiting, or casting out and reeling in immediately. Each person, with their own way of finding success, or just enjoying the moment.
Tonight, I saw a huge bass being taken off the hook as I rode by. I wanted to yell, “Great catch!,” like I was from a small town, and this was the local pond. I yelled it in my head, and the small townspeople yelled back, “Thanks!,” (again, in my head).
That made me smile.
I was still smiling when the next group of walkers passed me by. I could tell they wondered what I was smiling at. They’d figure it out, if they looked left and saw the fish. Maybe.
The sunset was beautiful on the lake. Especially the boat I captured in the middle. Placed in the perfect place for the picture I took without stopping. That made me smile too.
Pictures never do the sunset justice. It is the experience that a photo cannot capture.
Great experiences always follow me on my bike rides. They enter my mind, and then they write themselves.
Tonight I decided to share them with you.
I hope they made you smile. I hope that one day, we will all be in that town. We will all smile back at each other, and encourage each other, and that peace will be felt everywhere.
Overcoming Obstacles 